


Pedestals

by Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Character, Pining, Romance, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis/pseuds/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis
Summary: Weiss has been crushing on Pyrrha for the longest time and more recently on Ruby, but never acted upon her feelings. How could she? They were perfect and she wasn't. It really shouldn't have been so much of a surprise when they started dating after the Beacon Dance. They were perfect for each other, so why couldn't Weiss just let go of her feelings for them?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos/Ruby Rose
Comments: 13
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

Weiss wasn’t jealous. She was a Schnee, and Schnees always got what they wanted, so they had no need for jealousy.

So why did she feel so gut-wrenchingly envious when she watched Ruby and Pyrrha chatter away as they walked along the path ahead of her? Once again, Weiss sighed and cursed herself for her hesitance. 

She’d crushed on Pyrrha for years, even before she’d realised her ‘predilection for the fairer sex’, as her mother put it. She would never admit it, but her decision to attend Beacon had been as much about attending the same academy as Pyrrha as it was about getting out from under her father’s thumb.

How could she not feel things for Pyrrha? The girl was a paragon of athleticism and feminine strength. She was all Weiss aspired to be, and it didn’t hurt that she was quite a bit taller than Weiss. She’d been bitterly disappointed that she and Pyrrha hadn’t ended up as partners. They would have been perfect together, they could have become friends, and maybe even more. Of course there had been a silver lining to not being paired with Pyrrha, that being having Ruby as a partner.

In many ways, Ruby was Pyrrha’s opposite. Short, over-excitable and a massive sugar junkie, Weiss had cursed whatever gods existed for pairing her with this child. At least that had been how things had seemed at first. It didn’t take long for Weiss to get used to Ruby and look past the childish exterior to see the determined warrior beneath.

Weiss would never have considered Ruby to be her type. Quite the opposite, in fact, and yet the girl’s boundless optimism drew her in. Superficially, Ruby and Pyrrha were quite different, but in her own way, Ruby was a paragon of strength as well. Not that Ruby didn’t have the same enviable and delectable musculature as Pyrrha, just packed into a smaller package, but rather she had the sort of inner strength that Weiss only recently found she herself had, just not to nearly the same degree as Ruby.

Weiss was certain she could be happy with Ruby, and yet she continued to carry a torch for Pyrrha. Despite Pyrrha showing no interest in anyone other than Jaune, Weiss couldn’t quite let her feelings go, and it wouldn’t be fair on Ruby if she started dating her whilst dealing with these lingering feelings.

Then the Beacon dance happened and somehow, Ruby and Pyrrha hit it off. They hit it off so well, in fact, that they officially started dating only a couple of days later, leaving Weiss not exactly heartbroken, but certainly regretting her inaction.

“Weiss, you’re doing it again.” Weiss’ trip down memory lane was interrupted by a dry warning from Blake.

“I was not!” She protested immediately before pausing and asking. “What was I doing?”

“You were looking like you were trying to light Ruby and Pyrrha on fire with your mind.” Yang chipped in, grinning mischievously from her girlfriend’s other side whilst Blake nodded in agreement.

“A little more colourful a description than I would have opted for, but Yang’s not exactly wrong.” Blake sighed, rolling her eyes fondly at Yang and nudging her affectionately. Weiss only scowled at this display of affection. It was bad enough that she’d missed her chance with both Ruby  _ and  _ Pyrrha, but Blake and Yang getting together and being sickeningly sweet was just adding insult to injury.

“So maybe I’m a  _ little _ jealous.” Weiss huffed, folding her arms as the three entered the dining hall after the happy couple. “You would be too if you were the only single person on the team.”

“Are you still pretending that’s why you’re upset?” Yang groaned, burying her face in Blake’s dark tresses. “We all know it’s because you’re crushing hard on Pyrrha and Rubes. Just admit it so we can have an adult discussion about things.”

Blake, however, shook her head as she extricated Yang’s head from the crook of her neck. “Please don’t encourage her, Yang. I have no interest in getting involved in Weiss’ lovelife.”

“Some friend you are.” Weiss grumbled as she waited in line for food, having ensured Pyrrha and Ruby a few places ahead so they wouldn’t overhear the discussion.

“I’ll have you know I’m an amazing friend.” Blake sniffed haughtily, tossing her hair. “I just have no interest in anyone else’s lovelife. Mine’s complicated enough because-.”

“Because you're a demiromantic who used to be in an incredibly unhealthy and abusive relationship, and you believe these things mean you’re unable to relate and therefore will give bad advice.” Weiss recited in a bored tone. Blake had used that excuse verbatim any time anything related to anyone’s romantic relationships other than her own.

“Look, I was already tired of you pining after Pyrrha and then pining after Ruby. You getting jealous of them being together is both very tiring and not being that great of a friend.” Blake drawled as she grabbed a plate of tuna casserole.

“Well, I think you’re not being a great friend by being so dismissive.” Weiss shot back, grabbing her own plate and following the queue around.

“Don’t mind Blake, Weiss, she’s just cranky because she’s hungry.” Yang sighed, flicking her girlfriend on the ear in reprimand. “That said, if she doesn’t want to be involved in your lovelife, that’s her prerogative.”

“I know, I know. But if she doesn’t want to be involved, then she shouldn’t be passing judgement.” Weiss groaned hovering uncertainly at the end of the food line, wondering where she should sit. On the one hand, there were several free seats at the table where Pyrrha and Ruby were sitting. On the other, it was the table where Pyrrha and Ruby were sitting.

“Come on, Weiss, they’ll notice something’s up if you avoid them even more than you already have been.” Yang pointed out, nudging her way past Weiss and heading over to her sister with Blake in tow. Sighing quietly, Weiss steeled herself and followed the couple over to the table.

“Oh, Weiss, Weiiiiiss! Pyrrha was just telling me about how the Atlas military has giant robots! That’s so cool! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Ruby squealed excitedly, spraying food everywhere as Weiss sat down.

“Ruby, what did we say about talking with our mouths full?” Pyrrha asked with a hint of exasperation, shooting Weiss an apologetic look as Ruby swallowed hard and nearly choked.

“Sorry, Pyrrha.” Ruby grinned sheepishly up at her girlfriend and Weiss felt her grip on her fork tighten at the fond smile Pyrrha gave Ruby in return. Why did they have to be so perfect? And why couldn’t she have that? Was it because she wasn’t perfect like they were? That she wasn’t good enough to stand with them?

At first she’d thought she and Pyrrha would be the best partners as the strongest and smartest students, but now she sincerely doubted she would have brought anything to the partnership. In fact, she was fairly certain Ruby was the smartest student, despite being two years younger than the rest of them. The girl worked incredibly hard and received high grades as a result.

“Weiss, are you okay? You look a little upset.” Pyrrha’s concerned voice brought Weiss back from her self pity, and she schooled her expression into something that she hoped was convincingly cheerful.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you, Pyrrha.” Weiss answered, wondering if Pyrrha could be any more perfect. “I was just thinking about what I’m going to do this evening.”

“Well, Pyrrha and I were going to do some sparring. Maybe you could join us?” Ruby suggested, looking hopefully to Pyrrha for approval.

“We’d be glad to have you.” The redhead confirmed and leaned down to receive a happy kiss of thanks from Ruby that just made Weiss’ heart ache even more. It was bad enough to lose one girl she was crushing on, but to have a crush on two  _ and _ lose them both to each other? Nigh on unbearable, just like joining their training would be.

“No, I’m sorry, I was thinking of going to the library to work on that essay for Professor Port.” Weiss studiously ignored Yang’s frustrated sigh. Like with most things in life, Yang believed in being straight forward when it came to relationships, and she seemed convinced that Weiss should tell Pyrrha and Ruby about her feelings.

Weiss had steadfastly refused to do anything of the sort. Pyrrha and Ruby had the perfect relationship and were perfect for one another, so what would telling them even accomplish? They had each other and were unlikely to even consider the idea of breaking up with each other to be with Weiss. They’d just think she was trying to break them up or something and shut her out completely. No doubt they’d think she was selfish for having feelings for the both of them.

“Well... I hope that goes well for you, then.” It was almost certainly wishful thinking on Weiss’ part, but she could have sworn she heard disappointment in Pyrrha’s voice. Dismissing the ludicrous notion, Weiss nodded her thanks and returned to her meal as Yang engaged Ruby in discussion about the upcoming away mission.

Weiss ended up finishing her food in record time, unable to stay in Ruby and Pyrrha’s presence when Ruby started feeding Pyrrha off her own fork. Bidding a hasty goodbye to her friends, Weiss fled the dining hall, ignoring their replies as she speedwalked away.

She didn’t make it far, however, before she was caught by the hand and pulled to a halt. “Weiss, are you sure you’re okay?” Of course it was Ruby, dear sweet perfect Ruby, always so concerned about the wellbeing of her teammates.

“I’m fine, Ruby.” Weiss insisted, unable to meet her team leader’s eyes. Instead, most of her focus was on the warmth of Ruby’s calloused hand holding her own and how easy it would be to intertwine their fingers like Pyrrha would do.

“Weiss, you’re a terrible liar.” Ruby said flatly, pulling the ivory-haired girl around to face her. “Can you please just tell me what’s bothering you?”

Weiss continued to refuse to meet Ruby’s gaze, her keeping her eyes firmly on her feet as she considered her options. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry.” She eventually said, slipping her hand out from Ruby’s. “If you need me, I’ll be in the library.” With that, Weiss turned on her heel and left, blinking away tears as she strode resolutely away.

* * *

Weiss had been staring at the same page of her Grimm Studies textbook for at least fifteen minutes, but none of it was sinking in. Her mind was constantly distracted by thoughts of Ruby, Pyrrha and her own inadequacy. Even allowing herself to be so distracted was proof enough of the latter.

Ruby and Pyrrha were the perfect couple and there was no way Weiss could ever come close to them. Mother had been right, she really was just inferior. When Winter had announced her intention to join the Atlas military, and therefore forfeit her eligibility to take control of the SDC, Mother had vanished into her garden.

By the time Weiss found her, she could barely string a sentence together. Of course, that didn’t stop her from telling Weiss repeatedly that she would always be worse than Winter. And since Winter was nowhere near as good as Pyrrha or Ruby, Weiss couldn’t even come close.

Weiss wasn’t sure when the tears had started, but she noticed as they started to fall and stained the page of the book. Sniffing angrily, she swiped her sleeve across her eyes. She was a Schnee, she should act like one.

She was being ridiculous. Of course she was good enough to date Ruby or Pyrrha. She might not be on their level yet, but she was working towards it. The last couple of months at Beacon may have proved she wasn’t as perfect as she thought she was, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be, that she couldn’t stand on their level.

Of course, this was all academic. Ruby and Pyrrha had each other. No matter how good Weiss could be, they wouldn’t leave each other. Just as quickly as she’d pulled herself out of one pit, she found herself falling into another.

She was so busy wallowing in this new morass of self pity and depression, Weiss didn’t notice the chair beside her getting pulled out and occupied.

“You look like hot garbage.” Weiss’ head jerked up and looked around to see who had spoken. She’d half-expected it to be Yang, but instead it was Blake lounging in the chair beside her.

“Come to pass more summary judgement whilst remaining uninterested in my lovelife?” Weiss snarked at the Faunus who merely shrugged and let the jab roll off her back.

“I guess I deserved that a little. I should probably take some snacks with me to lectures so I don’t get cranky like that again.” Blake mused to herself, pulling out her scroll to make a note as she normally would whenever she needed to remember something. “But no, I’m actually here to break my own rule and offer you some advice.”

“I must be special, then.”

“Blame Yang. She knows more about your situation than I do, but she thought hearing the story directly from its source would be best.” Blake rolled her eyes in mild exasperation. “This is all on her, so if things go wrong, it’s Yang you can blame.”

“So what is this story you’re supposed to be telling me?” Weiss sighed, resigned to just getting whatever this was over with.

“First, promise this stays between us. I’m a private person and I don’t want this to get out.” Blake’s amber eyes narrowed dangerously at Weiss, who nodded warily.

“I promise.”

“So it’s about my parents. I don’t like talking about them because I haven’t seen them in a long time, and because they’re pretty important since-.”

“Your father helped found the White Fang, was the previous high leader and is now chief of Menagerie.” Blake blinked, nonplussed by Weiss’ almost bored recitation of her father’s fame.

“Um, yes, how did you know?”

“After the thing at the docks…” Weiss cringed a little at the memories of how awful and intolerant she’d been back then. “I took it upon myself to educate myself about the White Fang and the Faunus as a whole. Belladonna isn’t exactly a common name.”

“I’m… I’m actually surprised that you went to the trouble of looking things up.” Blake continued to stare at Weiss in shock as the heiress shrugged.

“It was no trouble, really. It was the least I could do. It was really little more than the bare minimum.” Weiss sighed deeply, shaking her head. “I said a lot of hurtful things and it’s not enough for me to be sorry for them. I have to be better and work on it.”

“I’m glad you’re making an effort.” Blake smiled encouragingly at Weiss, who flushed a little.

“Right, anyway, sorry I derailed your story. What were you going to tell me about your parents?” Cocking her head, Weiss waited as Blake coughed awkwardly and tried to remember where she was.

“Right, well, Yang thought I should tell you about their girlfriend.” Now it was Weiss’ turn to blink in surprise as she parsed Blake’s sentence.

“You mean your mother’s girlfriend, right?”

“No, I did say ‘their’, she was my mom  _ and  _ my dad’s girlfriend.” Blake explained patiently, though the corners of their mouth did twitch upwards.

“So she dated your parents before they got married?”

“No, they both dated her simultaneously.” Blake’s small smirk grew into a full mischievous smile that she’d undoubtedly picked up from Yang as Weiss gaped at her. “And before you ask, no they weren’t cheating, everyone knew and consented to the arrangement.

“You can  _ do  _ that?!” That seemed to be the final straw for Blake, who just burst out laughing. Weiss, meanwhile, felt a sting of embarrassment that her Atlesian upbringing seemed to have rendered her ignorant yet again.

“Yes, you can do that.” Blake eventually choked out, once her laughter had subsided enough. “It’s called polyamory, Weiss.” The Faunus finally managed to calm down fully whilst Weiss continued to process this information.

“And you don’t think they were weird for doing this? For liking more than one person at once?” Blake’s giggling had petered out fully and she gave Weiss a sympathetic look.

“No, I didn’t. I won’t say I got it completely, but then again, demiromantic, so…” Blake shrugged with a wry smile. “Though I think I’m starting to understand why Yang asked me to tell you about my parents and Sienna.”

Weiss nodded silently, face still red with embarrassment. “I think I do as well.” A plan was already forming in her mind, as well as a small spark of hope. Something must have shown on her face as Blake’s reassuring smile faded a little and she gave Weiss a flat stare.

“Weiss, not everyone is polyamorous. Don’t go getting your hopes up just because my parents are.” She warned, and Weiss flushed a little, wondering if she was really that obvious.

“I’m not getting my hopes up… Not really…” Weiss denied weakly. “But I have to try, even if I’m not worthy of them. I already missed my chance with them before. I’m not going to again.” Blake did not look particularly reassured by this. In fact, a frown tugged at the corners of her lips as Weiss started to get up. There was no point in wasting any more time, she knew where Ruby and Pyrrha were and Weiss wasn’t about to let her doubts dissuade her.

“What do you mean ‘not worthy of them’?” Blake asked as Weiss was about to stride off decisively.

“Have you not seen Ruby and Pyrrha, Blake? They’re perfect goddesses and paragons of humanity’s virtues. I’m lucky just to be friends with them and I’ll have to work so hard to be on their level to be worthy of their affections.” Weiss explained matter-of-factly over her shoulder to Blake.

“Weiss, I’m not sure this is a good idea now.” Blake called after her, looking torn about getting even more involved and ignoring the reprimands to be quiet from the other people present.

“I have to try. Even if I’m rejected for not being good enough, I have to try.” Weiss reasserted before throwing open the library doors and marching in the general direction of the arena.

Only when she reached the entrance to the building that housed the training areas did Weiss realise she had no idea what she was going to say to the couple. She highly doubted ‘Hey, I’ve been crushing on the both of you for the longest time and I really hope you’re both polyamorous so I can date you’ would go over all that well. Although Yang would probably be in favour of that, given her love of straightforwardness.

Sighing, Weiss pushed open the door and stepped into the building. She’d come up with something, it couldn’t be that hard. As she wandered through the building insearch of Ruby and Pyrrha, Weiss caught the faint sounds of fighting and excited yelling.

Smiling fondly as she recognised the familiar sounds of Ruby in the midst of combat, Weiss headed in their direction. Following the noise, Weiss eventually found herself in the stands above the arena where Professor Goodwitch hosted combat lessons. There, down in the ring, Pyrrha and Ruby fought furiously, and Weiss hovered just out of sight to admire them.

The pair had clearly been going at it for quite some time as both were slicked with sweat and panting hard. Ruby had her usual wide grin in place as she swung her enormous scythe at Pyrrha, who had a small smile instead of her usual stoic expression. As she dodged back though, Pyrrha slipped and stumbled backward over a discarded bullet casing.

She caught herself before she could fall, but the moment stunned Weiss. She’d never seen Pyrrha stumble or fall before. She was perfect, the best fighter of their generation, only Ruby came close. To see her make a basic mistake like that made Pyrrha seem almost… human.

By the time Weiss had completed the blasphemous thought, Pyrrha had already recovered and was counterattacking, paying close attention to where her feet landed this time. Ruby’s scythe was not nearly as good for close combat as Pyrrha’s sword and shield, and she was forced to retreat in a flurry of rose petals.

It seemed Pyrrha had been waiting for this though, as she raised her hand and twitched it towards herself. With a yelp of surprise, Ruby was caught mid flight as Crescent Rose stopped abruptly and was tugged out of Ruby’s grip. The red-cloaked girl, however, kept going, but had lost control with the sudden jerk and ended up crashing to the floor in a heap.

“I’m sorry!” Pyrrha quickly sheathed her sword to go help Ruby, apologising profusely as she did so. “I didn’t think you’d keep going. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Pyr.” Ruby groaned dazedly, shaking her head and looking up in adoration at her girlfriend. “That was so cool though!” She then shifted a little and noticed Weiss up in the stands. “Weiss! You came!”

Weiss had hoped to have a little more time to formulate what she was going to say to the couple, but there was no avoiding it now. Putting on her best smile, Weiss stepped into the light and hopped over the railing into the arena to join them.

“I wasn’t getting much done on the essay, and I wanted to talk to you both about something.”

“Oh? What did you want to talk to us about?” Ruby asked as Pyrrha pulled her to her feet and she pulled into the taller girl’s side affectionately.

“It’s… It’s pretty big, and I didn’t quite think this through.” Weiss admitted, wincing as she did so. If she was going to convince them she was worthy of their affections, she was doing a very poor job of it.

“Is it about why you’ve been avoiding me and Ruby since the dance? Because we’ve both been rather hurt by you doing it.” Weiss wasn’t sure what she was more surprised by, how perceptive Pyrrha was or that she’d just openly asked Weiss about it. Pyrrha seemed just as surprised as Weiss, as she clapped a hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Ruby’s been telling me I should express my opinions more.” Pyrrha apologised, only for Ruby to prod her gently.

“You’re also supposed to not apologise for it.” Ruby chided gently before returning her attention to Weiss, her head cocked in concern. “Is it that, Weiss?”

“In part.” The heiress admitted, shifting awkwardly, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was shorter than the other two.

“Is it because you’re uncomfortable with Ruby and me dating? I know there’s a bit of an age gap, but-.”

“It’s not that.” Weiss quickly interrupted Pyrrha, her hands twisting in her skirt. “Well, I guess it sort of is...”

Ruby and Pyrrha exchanged confused glances before looking back to Weiss. “What is it then, Weiss?” Ruby coaxed gently, and Weiss took a deep breath.

“I like you, both of you, romantically.” She blurted out. “I’ve admired Pyrrha for years, but then I thought you weren’t interested in girls so I started falling for Ruby, but I still had feelings for Pyrrha and didn’t want to start dating Ruby because of them.” Weiss paused for a breath before continuing, the words spilling forth. “But I just found out that polyamory is a thing and I thought that I might be able to date both of you at once, if you think I’m worthy, that is.”

Neither Ruby or Pyrrha spoke for a long while after Weiss finished speaking and the longer the silence dragged on the more anxious it made her. Finally it was Pyrrha who spoke first looking both flattered and oddly uncomfortable.

“Setting aside the issue of whether Ruby and I are open to having additional partners, why did you ask if we think you’re worthy?”

“I mean, you and Ruby are… amazing, paragons of virtue and glory. I’m nothing compared to you.” Weiss explained, and her heart sank as Ruby also started to look rather uncomfortable. She’d blown it, this had been a mistake.

“Weiss… Do you know how Pyrrha and I got together?” Ruby asked, her face still twisted uneasily.

“I just assumed something happened at the dance and you realised you were the two most perfect people at Beacon and should be together.” Weiss shrugged, winicing again as Ruby and Pyrrha shot each other another look.

“I… didn’t have a date for the dance, nobody asked me.” Pyrrha confessed, looking uncharacteristically unsure and holding onto her bicep with her other hand. “Most people are intimidated by me, by my reputation. I’ve been built up so much in their minds that they all think I’m some sort of goddess. Too good for them, untouchable.”

Weiss could feel her heart sinking as Pyrrha confessed this, remembering all the times she’d thought those exact same things to herself, she may have briefly overcome her perceived inadequacy compared to Pyrrha, but she’d still idolised her.

“I’d hoped that Jaune would invite me to the dance. I thought he was the only person who saw  _ me _ and not the warrior goddess everyone else did.” Pyrrha’s sad frown changed to a small smile as she looked down at Ruby. “I was wrong, and I’m so happy that I was.” 

“I just saw Pyrrha was unhappy and asked her to dance.” Ruby shrugged humbly. “I didn’t do much.”

“And that’s why I love you, my little rose.” Pyrrha pressed her lips to the top of Ruby’s head affectionately. “I didn’t want anything grand, I just wanted someone who treated me like any other girl.” Pyrrha looked up at Weiss, her eyes apologetic but firm.

“I don’t want to be put up on a pedestal, and I’m sure Ruby doesn’t either.” Ruby nodded against her girlfriend, clinging onto her heavily muscled arm. “And if you keep doing that to us, Weiss, then things can’t work between us. You’re in love with shadows, and it’s not fair on us, or on you, for that matter.”

“On me? But how?” Weiss asked, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

“You’d constantly be comparing yourself to us.” Ruby explained. “Or rather, this idealised version of us you have in your head. You already seem to think that you’re not good enough to be in a relationship with us.”

“You’re not a bad friend for this.” Pyrrha chipped in, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on Weiss’ shoulder and pre-empting the dark thought. “And we’re not saying nothing could happen. Ruby and I would need to talk about it. But if you keep us on pedestals, then it just can’t.”

Weiss nodded as she sniffed and fought back a few tears of disappointment. Despite Pyrrha’s reassurances, Weiss still felt like she’d been an awful friend to the two of them, and knew there was only one thing she could do.

“Pyrrha, could we hang out tomorrow? I’d like to get to know the real Pyrrha, not the one I watched on my scroll.” Pyrrha broke into a happy smile and nodded enthusiastically.

“I’d love to.” Weiss allowed herself a small smile in response. She may not know what would happen. Maybe Ruby and Pyrrha would come to the conclusion that polyamory wasn’t for them, maybe they’d be open to dating Weiss. Still, no matter what came of this, getting to know them better and becoming a better friend was more than worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Wandering One today, instead you get this! There'll probably be a sequel chapter to this at some point, maybe more than just the one. I do enjoy writing these short fics, a bit of a palate cleanser from writing the same story for the last year and a bit. 
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being just the sweetest. Lots of thanks too to the lovely [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being super supportive.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, Weiss, care to explain why you’re moping around this time?” Weiss opened up an eye to look up at Yang, who was standing over her bed, arms crossed.

“I’d hardly call me lying in bed ‘moping around’.” Weiss shot back, closing her eye again and studiously ignoring Yang’s long-suffering sigh.

“Normally I wouldn’t, but you haven’t moved in like two hours and I worry about you.” Weiss felt her mattress sink as Yang sat down beside her. “You have been taking your meds, right?”

“Of course I have.” Weiss sat up properly to glare at Yang. “Just because I may have been reluctant at first...”

“That is exactly why.” Yang deadpanned, raising her eyebrow at Weiss. “I still haven’t forgotten what a fight it was to get you to even start seeing the therapist.”

“I’m not off my meds, Yang, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Then what’s got you so down that you’re just lying on the bed for hours?”

“I’m allowed to relax, you and the others keep telling me to.” Weiss huffed, folding her arms irritably.

“And when have you actually taken that advice? You work even harder than Pyrrha, and that girl trains like 24/7.” Weiss tried and failed to suppress a flinch at the mention of Pyrrha’s name, and she prayed that Yang hadn’t noticed, but to no avail.

“Something about Pyrrha?” Yang sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. “I thought things were going well between you, her and Ruby.” It had been a few weeks since Weiss had confessed her feelings to the couple, and things had been going reasonably well.

Weiss had been going out on ‘friend dates’, as Ruby liked to call them, with her and Pyrrha. It had been a gradual process, learning to see the two as human rather than the vaunted paragons she had previously seen them as, but she was getting there.

That said, it was rather hard to think of someone as perfect when you’d seen them snort milkshake out of their nose after hearing a rather bad joke about the current state of Valean politics. Admittedly, humour wasn’t one of Weiss’ strong points, but Pyrrha seemed to think she was funny, which was rather gratifying.

Weiss had almost forgotten about the inciting incident for the time she was spending with Pyrrha and Ruby. Honestly, the opportunity to just get to know them both better and become closer friends with them had been more than worth it. It had even gotten to a point where Pyrrha was something of a fixture in Team RWBY’s dorm in the evenings.

But that had all come crashing down that morning.

“Weiss? You still with me?” The sound of fingers clicking brought Weiss back to herself, and she scowled at Yang. “Oh good, you were staring off into space for quite a while there.”

“Was not!”

“You definitely were.” Yang fired back with a smirk, reaching out to ruffle Weiss’ hair. “So what’s got you all spaced out, and what does it have to do with Pyrrha?”

“Don’t wanna say.” Weiss pouted, batting Yang’s hand away before folding her arms and curling in on herself.

“Come on, Weiss.” Yang wheedled, edging closer to her friend and trying her best impression of Ruby’s puppy eyes. “I’ll be sad if you don’t.” Weiss refused to answer at first, huffing and looking away, but after a little while, she relented.

“Fine. Pyrrha asked me out on a date this morning.” She mumbled, still refusing to look at Yang, who made a small noise of confusion.

“I thought you’d been going out on dates with her and Ruby the last couple of weeks.”

“Those were friend dates. Pyrrha was very clear in making sure I knew this was a  _ date _ -date.” Weiss clarified, feeling her face flush a little. “The kind that ends with kissing and stuff.”

“Um, isn’t that a good thing? I mean, haven’t you been wanting that for a while now?”

“I have, but I still feel weird about it.” Flopping back as she whined, Weiss had to wonder what was happening to her today. She was normally never like this, whiny and childish and confused. Maybe it was the medication starting to affect her negatively again. The first kind she’d been prescribed had given her awful headaches, which may have contributed a little to her reticence to start another.

“Maybe if you talk about it some more? Get to the heart of what’s making you feel like this?” Yang suggested, and Weiss looked up at her sceptically.

“What are you, my therapist?” She asked irritably. “You seem awfully invested in my life.”

“I care about you, Weiss. I can’t help it, it’s kind of who I am.” Shrugging, Yang looked away whilst rubbing at her bicep uneasily. “I spent so long looking after Ruby after Mom died, I can’t help but look after my  Mèimeis .”

“Your whats?” Yang blushed heavily at the question and hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before answering.

“It means ‘little sister’.” She muttered and Weiss turned rather pink too.

“You see me as your little sister?! I’m older than you!” Weiss protested, flailing her arms.

“You don’t act like it.” Yang fired back. “And from what you’ve mentioned about Winter, it sounds like you could do with the influence of an older sister.”

“Whatever…” Weiss grumbled, trying not to let Yang know that she was actually rather pleased by this. “Do you really think talking through things will help me get to the bottom of why I’m feeling this way even though I shouldn’t?”

“I mean, it’s pretty much what we do in my therapy sessions. Yours too, I assume, so it’ll probably help.” Shrugging, Yang pulled her legs up underneath her and faced Weiss properly. “So let’s start from this morning. Pyrrha asked you out on a date.”

“A  _ date- _ date.” Weiss stressed, rolling her eyes fondly. “Her words, not mine. I think Ruby’s rubbing off on her a little too much.”

“Right, a date-date.” Yang said in her most deadpan tone. “And what did you say?”

“I said yes, of course. It’s what I wanted, after all.”

Yang narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Weiss’ hesitant tone. “Is it?”

“Of course it is!”

“It’s okay if your feelings towards Pyrrha and Ruby have changed, you know?” Yang tried to reassure Weiss, but the white-ahired girl merely folded her arms stubbornly. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with them as just friends, it makes sense.”

“And I already told you, it’s not because my feelings for them have faded!” Weiss almost shouted in her irritation. “So I may have gotten swept up a little in the whole ‘being friends’ thing and they might have gone away for a while. But Pyrrha asking me out on a date-date reminded me of how I felt about them,  _ and  _ now I have all these other little things I found out that I like about them too.”

“Like?” Yang cocked an eyebrow at Weiss’ over-dramatic wailing.

“Did you know Ruby does this little snort when she’s laughing but she only ever does it if she’s watching a video of animals doing funny things? It’s so adorable! And Pyrrha does this thing where she ends up sticking pens behind her ear whenever she’s thinking and then forgets about them, so she often has maybe three or four pens all stuck behind her ears and in her circlet, and it’s just the cutest thing!” Weiss paused momentarily in her breathless rhapsodising and was about to continue before Yang put a hand over her mouth.

“I get the picture.” She said dryly, smirking a little. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you picked up some of Ruby’s talent for motormouthing.”

“I just really like them, okay?” Weiss grumbled once she’d pushed Yang’s hand away. “Does that convince you that I’m still into them?”

“Yeah, it does.” Yang admitted, her mouth twisting into a frown. “So why are you feeling off?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be telling me, therapist Yang?” Weiss grumbled, flopping back against her pillows. “I just don’t know why I’m feeling this way. I mean, they’ve already got each other and were generous enough to consider opening their relationship up to me, and now that’s actually happening, I should be exhilarated.”

Sighing, Weiss turned her head to look at the bedside table she shared with Ruby and looked at the framed picture of Ruby and Pyrrha at a local carnival they’d been to on one of their first dates. They looked so perfect and happy together, Weiss had no idea why they’d even consider dating someone like her.

No. Bad Weiss. She mentally scolded herself for slipping back into that way of thinking and reset her counter for how many days it had been since she’d put herself down. Her therapist probably wouldn’t approve and would probably tell her that by keeping this counter in her head she was continuing to hold herself up to those unrealistic standards that had led to her low self-esteem.

It had taken weeks for her to finally extract the confession from Weiss that she damn near hated herself, and even then it was only after Ruby and Pyrrha had gently prodded her into it. But this wasn’t about her well-known self-esteem issues, this was supposed to be getting to the root of why she felt off about dating Pyrrha now.

Rolling back upright, she noticed Yang seemed to be lost in thought, so she reached out with a foot to prod the blonde in the side. “Yang? You still with me?” She asked impishly, which earned an exasperated sigh from Yang.

“I was just thinking about what you just said.” She fired back, shaking her head. “I thought you were past the whole hero worship thing.”

“I am! Well, I’m trying to, at least.” Weiss shrugged. “Atlas wasn’t built in a day.”

“I don’t know, sounds like you’re still stuck seeing them as better than you. You just said they were generous for opening their relationship to you.” Yang raised an eyebrow curiously but Weiss just shook her head.

“I didn’t mean it like that…” Weiss paused in thought, how had she meant it then? It wasn’t easy to articulate, but she gave it a try anyway. “I mean… I know they aren’t perfect, and neither is their relationship. But I’ve seen them together these last few weeks and they’re more than happy with one another.” Weiss sighed deeply and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes.

“And you think they don’t need you or something?”

“Maybe? I don’t know.” Weiss dropped her hands from her face to gaze mournfully at Yang. “They work well together and are content with one another, I’d just be getting in the way.” She blinked in surprise at the moment of clarity. “I’d… just be getting in the way…”

“Say what now?”

“Pyrrha and Ruby have been together for quite a long time now, they’re a couple. If I were to start dating them, I’d still just be the third wheel. They’ve done fine without me before now. And what happens if there’s an argument? Why wouldn’t they choose each other over me?” Weiss felt anxiety pooling in her chest, slowly bubbling up and getting caught in her throat.

“Oh…” A small pause, then Yang shuffled over to Weiss and patted her awkwardly on the knee. “There, there?”

Weiss fixed the blonde with an unamused look. “Wow, thanks, Yang. I feel better already.” She deadpanned.

“Hey, the talking helped you get to the root of it, didn’t it?” Yang shrugged, retracting her hand and swinging her legs off the bed.

“I guess it did. I don’t know what it means I should do about it though.”

Yang rolled her eyes as she stood up from the bunk, stretching and cracking her joints. “Well, I do have one idea. Talk to Rubes and Pyrrha about it.”

“But-.”

“But nothing. I know you have this massive hang-up about talking to people about your problems. Quite frankly, I’m amazed you actually talked to me about this and didn’t jump out the window or something.” Yang meandered into the middle of the room before spinning to face Weiss again. “But you really should, preferably before your date-date with Pyrrha.”

“Or I could not go on that date and just let Ruby and Pyrrha be.” Weiss suggested, and received a pillow to the face.

“No! You are not avoiding your problems like this again.”

“You really do sound like my therapist.” Weiss grumbled, throwing the pillow back onto Blake’s bed. “She seems to think I should do more talking too.”

“Well, that’s two recommendations that you should talk to people, and one of them comes from a professional.” Yang crossed her arms and tapped her foot expectantly. Weiss, however, made no move to get up.

“I don’t want to.” Weiss set her jaw stubbornly. “And you can’t make me either.”

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t try.” Yang shrugged and meandered off to sit at one of the desks.

“I thought you’d try harder than that.”

“I’m taking my girlfriend’s advice that there’s a limit to how much you can help a person who doesn’t want to be helped.” The blonde explained as she kicked her feet up on the desk. “And also that I invest too much of myself in other people’s problems, so I don’t spend enough time on myself.”

“So that’s it?” Weiss cocked her head in confusion.

“Look, I’m working on myself and my issues. I think you should do the same. But ultimately, you need to be the one to do it.” With her feet still propped up on the desk, Yang pulled out her scroll and started fiddling with it whilst Weiss continued to sit motionless on her bunk.

She didn’t know what she wanted to do right now, the easiest option would be to just call Pyrrha and call off the date. They’d understand eventually, it was the best option for all of them. All of them except her.

Reaching out to the bedside table, Weiss grabbed her scroll and opened it up. For a long moment, she stared at her lock screen. She’d taken it a few days ago. She, Pyrrha and Ruby had gone into Vale for the day to do some shopping and had lunch at a quaint cafe Pyrrha had found. Weiss’ face had been partially obscured by her arm as she’d tried to reach as far as possible, but Ruby and Pyrrha were clear in the image, sitting beside one another, Ruby more focused on a cookie than the camera and Pyrrha smiling dazzlingly as she always did. The girl never had a bad photo.

Dismissing the lockscreen, Weiss flipped through the menus to reach her contacts and scrolled through them until she found the one she wanted. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Weiss pressed the call button and held the scroll up to her ear.

“Hey, Pyrrha. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well with an ending like that, I guess I am pretty much locked into writing more for this. I quite like this story, I like exploring these aspects of relationships which I don't do so much in my other fics. Hopefully they'll all be able to work things out though.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the bestest. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so sweet to me and putting up with my whining.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


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